How to Increase Classroom Participation

If you’ve ever asked yourself, “How do I increase classroom participation”, illustrated here is a simple and straightforward how-to guide that will get your students to open up and participate in more substantial give-and-take discussions. It’s entertaining and requires just a few minutes.

Countless kids wrestle with what to say. They can become very self-conscious when they are not with their usual group of friends. Students who are required to participate in group activities can have a hard time opening up to complete strangers. The idea of this article is to suggest an activity that might be a good ice-breaker to help everyone open up a little to each other and increase their communication.

Increased classroom participation helps to increase a students’ confidence and make them more comfortable revealing their thoughts and opinions.

Start off by combining kids at random into groups of three or four. Also, make sure to move the kids around within the groups so they have practice getting comfortable with everyone in the class. Have each group select one person to pretend to be an alien who has just arrived on Earth, and one person to be a translator who speaks the alien’s language.

The object of the game is for the other students to try and learn as much about the alien as they can. The person playing the translator can try to understand what the alien is trying to convey, but will otherwise make up the rest. (This aspect makes the activity particularly fun.) After a few minutes, call for their attention and allow them to switch roles.

By performing and partaking in this activity, the energy will transform among students which will make them become more relaxed to be themselves. This in turn will let them be more open to talking about their ideas. In the end they will mature into more accomplished communicators.

About The Author

Articles written by SensoryEdge are a combined effort of the SensoryEdge publishing staff. At SensoryEdge our focus is to educate, inform, and inspire each person caring for children to be and do their very best. It is not always easy and sometimes we don't take action (or we take the wrong action) because of a lack of understanding the real issues. We hope that the conversations that occur here will help in some small way better the lives of children, their families, and the professionals who work with them.